Seven Days In England

Cotswolds are typical of what we all expect England to be cute cottages and winding roads. I love it- at least two days. Another good day is Salisbury Cathedral/ Stonehenge/Avebury (if those stones appeal to you). York, interesting walled town. Oxford or Cambridge (C is more compact) Bath doesnt excite me- tarted up Roman ruins and an interesting cathedral- but there are many other English cathedrals at least equal to it. My thrid day I would be tempted to drive along the thames poking around in some of the thames side villages.

With only three days, I would vote for being more limited in scale. As Rick says, pretend you are going to come back. Even if you don't, in my opinion, its better to see two places well than five places rushed. We stayed in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. You could easily do all three days there with hikes and a day trip into Oxford (if you rent a car - which you should if you are staying in CC). Though you can string together train and bus routes, a car makes life much easier. On the flip side, you could also easily spend 3 days in York - it was really great. I've never been to Bath, but I imagine the York Minster is at least as good if not better than Bath Cathedral. Plus you also have Roman ruins and a medieval feel. York would be easier (no car needed) but either would be good. Just be careful of spreading yourself too thin. :)

The Cotswolds are picture-perfect, honey-colored stone villages that embody our idea of the perfect Ye Olde Englishe village, and are PACKED with tourists in summer. If you're traveling during the "high season" and get impatient while waiting in line behind hordes of sneakered Americans (Canadians, Iralians, Greeks, etc., etc.) on line for the pricey/touristy Ye Olde Tea Room, you might want to consider going a little further off the beaten path. I adore Bath - if you like Roman architecture, you can't beat the actual baths themselves. If you love High Georgian ambiance and gentility, the Tap Room is wonderful for high tea, and strolling the old Georgian neighborhoods is amazing. Again - Bath is wall-to-wall people during tourist season. MORE IN 2nd POST

POST #2 York is magnificent. Cornwall is a delight. Oxford is charming and boasts the pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis hung out. Stonehenge will blow your mind, even though these days you can't get in among the stones. Salisbury Cathedral is about 12 miles away, and makes a great "two-fer" with the henge. I suggest checking the web for real-life activities, and attending at least one. A favorite travel memory of mine is an antique tractor show in Yorkshire. It was mid-June, but we were the only American tourists in attendance. We enjoyed the puffy clouds and huge blue skies, while wandering an old fair ground and marveling at gorgeous steam-powered tractors. Real old guys from the country were there, wearing flat wool caps and Wellies, gossiping. The church had a stall where we bought home baked goodies to snack on. There was a sheepdog trial! There was beer! There was amazing people-watching! With so many local town and villages having websites these days, it's much easier to find things like that, and yet many tourists still don't avail themselves of the opportunity to find something "real life" to do as an alternative to more touristy sights. So you might luck out!

I like your idea, but I would do one day in Bath and two in the Cotswolds. I've been to Bath twice, both times in the summer. There were plenty of tourists, but not so many to interfere with our activities. I was in the Cotswolds just once for an afternoon, again in the summer. There were hardly any other people in Chipping Camden, which we loved. If you are interested in Stonehenge and/or Avebury, you could stop on your way to Bath. I loved them both.

Tom, the Cotswolds are pretty, but let me suggest something else. Take a late night/overnight train to Penzance and spend 3 days exploring Cornwall and parts of Devon by car. Admittedly, you'd have to watch the scheduling, but it's a beautiful place. Or, three nights in Edinburgh. Yes, it's not the countryside, but it is a great city. Train from King's Cross takes about 4-1/2 hours, so it's easily do-able on your schedule. Or, two nights in Edinburgh, and one in York. Catch a late afternoon train from York to King's Cross, and from there to your airport.

Wow! My thanks to everyoe for their ideas (more are welcome too). All the ideas are interesting and will make an exciting time. I will be targeting mid-Sept so I should be beyond the summer crowds but, hopefully, the weather will still be okay. Thanks again to all. Tom

As a follow-up. If I was to spend an afternoon in either Oxford or Cambridge, which would you choose?

"but, hopefully, the weather will still be okay." As the English have been known to say: There is no bad weather, only inappropriately dressed people.
:)

Full disclosure, I am prejudiced, as I live in Bath this year and love it. But given the things you are interested in, Bath would be a good home base for Stonehenge, Cotswolds, Oxford, or my favorite - Glastonbury. Why don't you stay three nights in Bath? Spend one or so days exploring Bath, one day on a full day Mad Max Stonehenge tour (where you will see two nice Cotswold towns, Stonehenge and Avebury), then one day in Oxford.

I'd have to agree with the poster about Cornwall - Lovely, and so much to do. But, the Cotswolds are much closer. I liked Bath, but not enough to have ever gone back (I know I'm in the minority here!) I'd spend time in Gloucester - loved it. But then, it depends on what you want to see. If you want to see castles, head to Wales for Chepstow castle - one of the most interesting I've seen. And Tintern Abbey is close by too. OR take the overnight train to Edinburgh and spend three days there (I'm biased, as Edinburgh is my favorite city in Europe.)

As an alternative, you could stay in London the entire time and do day trips. Bath, York, Canterburry, Stratford-upon-Avon, Winchester, Dover, Cardiff, Brighton, and many other places make great day trips by train from London. You could even go to either Bath or Stratford-upon-Avon and do a 1/2 day tour of the Cotswolds (we did it from Stratford). Windsor is also a MUST in my opinion. Makes a good 1/2 or full day from London with only an easy 20 min. train ride.
If you really want to be out of London for part of the time, I'd vote for York- it is a personal favorite.